


Bench Trial

by dettiot



Series: Reason Free From Passion [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Lawyers, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anidala Week 2020, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:26:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24059695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dettiot/pseuds/dettiot
Summary: Padmé Amidala is one of the youngest judges ever appointed to the Washington, D.C. bench. Anakin Skywalker, a Marine veteran, is now a private investigator. They might not have ever met, if Padmé’s new friend Satine and Anakin’s foster brother Ben weren’t a couple.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Satine Kryze, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Series: Reason Free From Passion [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1735699
Comments: 16
Kudos: 111





	Bench Trial

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Anidala Week 2020 for Day 4: Modern AU or Fusion/Alternate Fandom. I kinda adore modern Anidala AUs, and when I had the idea to include Anakin and Padmé in my Obitine lawyers AU, I took the opportunity and ran with it!
> 
> This is set in the future of Opposing Counsel, my Obi-Wan/Satine modern lawyers AU, so if you’d like to check it out, it’s available on [Tumblr](https://dettiot.tumblr.com/tagged/opposing-counsel) or [AO3](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23370079/chapters/55995208). Thanks for reading!
> 
> _Bench trial: A trial without a jury, in which the judge serves as the fact-finder._

Padmé took her seat, setting her briefcase down by her chair and crossing her legs. As much as she supported anything to bring more women into the legal profession, and liked being able to socialize and interact with her coworkers, she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to stay awake during tonight’s seminar. Her workload as a judge was much more extreme than before, when she had been a defense attorney. It was like there weren’t enough hours in the day. And the only way to get through all her work was to cut back on her sleep. 

A tall, imposing blonde woman sat in the chair beside Padmé, speaking softly on her cell phone. From the tone of her voice, it was someone she cared about. “Of course Anakin’s welcome to stay. We’ve got plenty of room and besides, it’s better when there’s someone around to remind you to eat and keep you from falling asleep on top of your legal pads.” She paused, listening, then laughed softly. “Me, too. I’ll see you at home. Bye.” 

She hung up and looked at Padmé with a not-at-all-sheepish smile. “Men. So helpless without us.” 

Chuckling softly, Padmé nodded. “I agree.” The blonde looked familiar to Padmé, but she still held her hand out. “Hi, I’m Padmé Amidala.” 

“Satine Kryze,” the blonde said with a firm, no-nonsense handshake. “You’re the judge who was appointed recently, yes?”

“Just about a year ago,” Padmé confirmed. “I think I’ve seen you at other events . . .?”

“Yes!” Satine’s eyes lit up. “I was on the affirmative side in our Equal Rights Amendment debate.” 

Padmé nodded as she remembered. “You were amazing. Of course, it’s hard for any woman to argue against the ERA, but I thought you supported your position in a very innovative way.” 

“Thanks,” Satine said with a smile. “I had some help from the other side.” 

Before Padmé could ask for more, the speaker was introduced and she leaned back in her chair, doing her best to push down her yawn. While the topic was interesting, it quickly became clear the speaker was not very talented at presenting her argument, and it was all Padmé could do not to nod off. 

After a half hour, she felt a hard elbow in her side and jerked her head up, looking around. She saw Satine smirking a little and couldn’t help a small laugh. 

“You want to get out of here?” Satine whispered. 

She took in the glazed eyes of the other listeners and the bumbling words of the speaker, then looked back to Satine and nodded. 

Without any shame, Satine rose to her feet and stepped past Padmé into the aisle. Scrambling a bit to grab her briefcase and follow Satine, it took her a few moments to catch up to the blonde. 

Once they were out of the room, Satine said, “Normally, I’m more willing to give the benefit of the doubt, but I just couldn’t take any more of that speaker.” 

“I know,” Padmé admitted with a smile. “Thank you for the rescue.” 

“How about a drink?” Satine said. “My place is just a few blocks away, and my boyfriend has a weakness for very good Scotch and very crappy beer.” She grinned encouragingly at Padmé.

There were a dozen briefs in her briefcase, waiting for her to read them. Not to mention the stack of legal journals at home, besides the laundry she should have done last night and other chores.

But Satine’s smile was so welcoming and Padmé couldn’t deny she would like a break. So with a smile of her own, she nodded. “All right.” 

“Excellent,” Satine said. “Let’s go. We can order some dinner, too. This way!” 

Padmé walked with Satine, feeling a jaunty spring in her step. “Have you and your boyfriend been dating long?” 

“About a year,” Satine said easily. “We dated in law school, but then we broke up rather acrimoniously and didn’t reconnect until after I moved to D.C.” 

“How lucky that you could start over,” Padmé said, feeling a slight flutter of envy. Not that she had any boyfriends in her past that she’d want to date again, but it was nice to think that you could get a second chance at love. 

Satine nodded. “It was hard to get here, but it was all worth it. You probably know of him--Ben Kenobi, from the prosecution office?” 

“You’re dating a prosecutor?” Padmé asked with a blink. Because unless she missed her guess, Satine was a defense attorney.

“I know, I know,” Satine said, rolling her eyes. “I’m working on Ben, though. We’ve talked about opening our own law firm in a year or two, once we have enough capital.” 

The rest of the walk passed quickly as Padmé and Satine exchanged information about local law firms and their client bases. 

Soon, they arrived at a modest-looking brownstone on a side street off Dupont Circle. Satine climbed the steps and opened the front door, stepping inside. “Ben? Are you here?” 

“Coming, my dear!” came a distinguished-sounding voice, and within a few moments, an auburn-haired man with a beard and a twinkle in his blue-gray eyes appeared in the hall. 

“Hello, my love,” Satine said, smiling brightly at Ben before kissing him softly. 

He was enthusiastic in his response and Padmé looked away, feeling her cheeks flush. 

Satine smiled a bit apologetically at Padmé when Ben finished kissing her, while the man in question looked at Padmé and smiled. “Good evening.” 

“Ben, this is Padmé Amidala. We snuck out of a very boring presentation, and I invited her over for a drink.” 

“Welcome to our home, Padmé,” Ben said, shaking her hand. “I’m afraid neither Satine nor I are much in the way of cooking, but we do have a fully-stocked bar. What can I offer you?” 

She couldn’t help but be charmed by Ben. With a smile, she said, “I would love a martini, if it’s not too much trouble. That should tide me over until we decide what we’re ordering for dinner.” 

“Brilliant,” Satine said. “Make it two.” She kissed Ben’s cheek, then turned to Padmé. “The menus are in the kitchen.” 

“Sounds good,” Padmé said, taking a step to follow Satine. 

There was the sound of a door opening, and Ben said in exasperation, “Anakin, really?” 

“You said Satine was out!” said another man--Anakin, Padmé supposed--as both she and Satine turned around.

And then Padmé’s eyes nearly fell out of her head. 

Because she was not expecting to see a tall, handsome, practically naked and dripping wet man in Satine’s hallway. 

XXX

He was going to kill Ben. It didn’t matter that he was his foster brother--his father in some ways--the man who had helped him get off drugs, the one who had changed his life. 

No, he was going to kill Ben for letting him step out of the first-floor bathroom wearing just a towel, in front of Ben’s scarily intimidating girlfriend and a complete and total stranger. 

A really hot complete and total stranger. 

Anakin gripped his towel tighter with his flesh hand, feeling grateful his new prosthetic arm could stay on when he showered. He was already embarrassed enough, he didn’t want to deal with explaining why he was missing his right hand and forearm, too. 

Especially with how the really hot complete and total stranger was staring at him. 

Doing his best to smile, he said, “Hey, Satine. Sorry about this.” 

“Oh, no, don’t apologize. This is incredibly entertaining,” Satine said, her arms folded across her chest and a wide smile on her face. 

“Cool, I guess,” he said, glancing at the stranger again. She was beautiful: long brown hair put up in a twist, big brown eyes, and delicate features. Her whole face looked like something out of an old painting: expressive and regal. Like a queen. 

“Anakin, perhaps you might go back in the bathroom and get dressed?” Ben suggested, his face impassive but his eyes dancing with amusement. “Then you can meet Padmé properly.” 

Padmé. He’d never met anyone named that. Just like he’d never met anyone with his name. And . . . he was staring at her now. Anakin was sure his blush went halfway down his chest, but he wasn’t about to look down and see.

“Right, yeah--good idea,” Anakin said, stumbling a little. “See you in a bit.” He couldn’t help meeting Padmé’s eyes one more time before he turned and went back into the bathroom. 

He leaned his ear against the door, trying to hear if they were saying anything--if Padmé was saying anything about him--but all he heard was footsteps. Blowing out a breath, Anakin took his towel and finished drying off quickly. He pulled on his jeans and a faded black t-shirt, then ran his hands through his hair, looking at himself in the mirror. 

The same blue eyes with a scar cutting across his right eyebrow, straight nose and pronounced jawline greeted him. Anakin wasn’t vain and he didn’t worry too much about his looks, but in this moment, he wondered if maybe Padmé had liked what she had seen. 

Acting like a damn fool was nothing new to Anakin Skywalker. Especially in front of an amazingly beautiful woman. Hopefully, he could go and talk to Padmé and make her forget just how big an idiot he had acted. 

Anakin stepped out of the bathroom and heard voices coming from the kitchen. When he stepped into the kitchen, which was open to the dining and living rooms, he found Ben at center stage, making cocktails, flirting with Satine, and joking with Padmé. The sight of a smile on Padmé’s face, the sparkle in her eyes, made Anakin want to be the one making her look like that. 

“Hey,” he said, giving everyone an embarrassed smile.

Satine gave him an evil grin. “Hi, Anakin.” 

Rolling his eyes, he looked at Padmé and smiled, holding out his hand. “Hi. I’m Anakin Skywalker. I’m Ben’s foster brother.” 

“Hello,” Padmé said, taking his hand and shaking it, her palm soft and cool against his. “Padmé Amidala. I met Satine at a lecture tonight, and she invited me over.” 

He nodded and smiled at her. “Nice to meet you.”

Her small nod and smile, before turning to talk to Satine, made Anakin’s heart fall. He waited a moment to see if he could join their conversation, but since he was the only one in the room who wasn’t a lawyer, it quickly became clear that he couldn’t add much to a discussion of some weird old law. 

With a sigh, he went over to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. He took a long swallow as he tried to readjust his outlook. Sometimes an embarrassingly, sexually-charged meet-cute didn’t go anywhere. 

“Okay there?” Ben asked quietly, mirroring Anakin’s lean against the countertop.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Anakin said with a sigh. “I just let myself get carried away, again.” 

Ben gave him a sympathetic smile. “It’s one of your best qualities, Anakin: how you meet people and immediately connect with them. I envy you for that quality.” 

It had to be some kind of witchcraft, how Ben could settle him down. Ever since they had first met, when Ben was serious and too mature at sixteen, and Anakin was a rambunctious and grieving nine-year-old, it had been like that. Although the death of his mother would always be the worst thing that had ever happened to him, having Ben drift out of his life was up there. 

Anakin was grateful they had reconnected ten years ago. And he was glad that Ben had gotten back together with Satine, because he had never seen his foster brother so happy as he was now. He just . . . he wanted some of that happiness for himself.

“I just . . .” Anakin said softly, glancing over at Padmé. “She’s amazing, and I don’t even know her. So how much more amazing would she be if I did get to know her?” 

Giving him a gentle pat on the shoulder, Ben smiled. “Let me see what I can do.”

“What? Ben, no--” Anakin hissed, but it was too late. Ben was already crossing over to stand in front of the counter where Padmé and Satine were sitting and talking quietly. 

XXX

She knew Satine wanted to rib her about her reaction to Anakin. Even though Padmé has just met her, it’s blatantly obvious. But all it took was a look from Ben as they sat down, and Satine drew Padmé into conversation about other things. 

But it was still pretty clear how amused Satine was by Padmé’s gawking. 

Amusement was the last thing Padmé felt about her reaction to Ben’s foster brother. Because . . . she didn’t know she could react to a man like that. With an immediate, complete, and total surge of lust and desire and _want_.

Even as she kept up her end of the conversation with Satine and laughed at Ben’s jokes as he made their martinis, Padmé was trying to analyze just what happened in the hallway. Why the sight of Ben’s foster brother, dripping wet, wearing just a towel, was just so . . . inspiring. 

Padmé crossed her legs and mentally stuck her tongue out at herself. Because there was an easy answer to why she’s feeling like this.

Anakin was incredibly, beautifully, hot. 

Tall and lean? Check. Broad shoulders tapering to defined abs and a narrow waist? Check. Strong, athletic legs? Check. 

And that was even before she got to his face. That jawline--those lips--and his _eyes_. Padmé always thought blue eyes were cold, remote. But Anakin’s were warm and intense and so alive. 

It was his eyes, and the scar crossing by one of them, that kept him from being too pretty, too perfect. And she wondered what his story was. 

Being in foster care must have made for a difficult childhood. But there was such warmth and affection between Ben and Anakin. So she wondered . . . 

At that moment, Anakin stepped into the kitchen and Padmé almost groaned. How could he be just as hot in clothes? It was only a pair of jeans and an old t-shirt, but with bare feet and damp hair, he was gorgeous. 

“Hey,” he said, smiling apologetically at all of them, but his eyes seemed to linger on Padmé. 

Now that both of them were in the same room, Satine seemed even more excited to cause mischief. Anakin ignored her and held his hand out to Padmé, introducing himself. 

When she touched his hand, she nearly sighed at how warm his skin was. How nice it felt. It was like sinking into a bubble bath at the end of a long day. 

What was _wrong_ with her?

She had to turn away and start talking to Satine to keep her composure. She could see, out of the corner of her eye, how Anakin deflated a bit before going to the other end of the kitchen. 

“You know, Anakin’s single,” Satine said quietly. “And I tease him, since he’s Ben’s younger brother and he’s easy to tease, but he’s a good man.” 

“I don’t have time for dating,” Padmé said emphatically, because it was the truth. She hadn’t even really had the time for the seminar tonight, but had told herself that it might be worthwhile down the line. This? Spending time with Satine, hanging out at her house? How could that be worthwhile?

A tiny voice inside her said, “Worth isn’t a value in friendship,” but Padmé tried to ignore the voice. 

“And I thought that, too, when I moved here,” Satine said. “But then my sister got stationed at Quantico, and I buried the hatchet with Ben and started dating him. And I met Anakin, and his foster sister Ahsoka, and . . .” She shrugged her shoulders. “Sometimes, you meet people that make you rebalance your whole life so you can spend time with them.” 

Padmé took a healthy swallow from her martini. “I know. But . . . I have a duty to the court, to justice. I want to be on the Supreme Court someday. And that means working as hard as I can to achieve that.” 

“All right,” Satine said, smiling a bit sadly. “I like you, Padmé, and I don’t have a lot of friends here in D.C. So I hope this isn’t the only time we can do this. Because our jobs are hard and it’s nice to have some support.” 

Although she doubted Satine was trying to make her feel guilty, Padmé looked away in regret. Because she liked Satine, too, and she definitely didn’t have friends in D.C. Her parents still lived in Connecticut, and while Padmé loved her sister and brother-in-law and nieces, getting out to Houston to visit them was nearly impossible. 

Maybe . . . maybe she was looking at this in the wrong way. Maybe instead of the law seminars and professional organizations, she . . . just needed to make a friend. Someone who was also in the legal profession, so she understood the challenges, but more than that, Satine just seemed fun. 

“You’re right,” Padmé said. “I . . . I’m sorry if I was rude. I didn’t mean to be. And I’d like us to be friends.” 

Satine smiled brightly and lifted her glass. “Cheers to that!”

They clinked, Padmé smiling back, as they both finished their martinis. 

“Ladies! I have an idea.” 

“Oh?” Satine asked, smirking at her boyfriend. 

Padmé grinned a little in embarrassment at the answering smirk Ben sent Satine, before he looked at her. 

“Actually, I thought we could send Anakin and Padmé over to the Thai place to pick up some food for all of us,” Ben said. “They don’t deliver, but the food is simply amazing and well worth the walk.” 

With Ben being shorter than Anakin, it was easy for Padmé to see Anakin’s flushed face and eyes that looked anywhere but at her. And . . . something twisted inside her, something soft and silent, that made her want to listen to her heart instead of her head. 

“Sounds good to me,” Padmé said. “I love Thai food.” 

Anakin’s head jerked up, his eyes immediately meeting hers. Then he smiled brightly. “Thai is awesome.” 

Smiling back at him, Padmé hopped off her stool. “What do you guys want?” she asked, looking at Ben and Satine and nearly giggling at their matching confused looks. 

“Chicken pad thai,” Ben said after a moment’s hesitation and a look at Satine. 

“Tom kha soup with tofu and an order of basil fried rice for me,” Satine said, grinning at Padmé.

“All right,” Padmé said, grabbing her purse and turning to Anakin. “Ready?” 

He nodded and smiled even wider. “Ready.” 

XXX

As they stepped out of Ben and Satine’s place, heading towards the Thai place thanks to the GPS on Padmé’s phone, Anakin couldn’t help looking at Padmé. 

Because . . . something had changed with her. She was smiling, looking at him . . . acting so much more open. 

It made all his hopes roar back to life. 

“So . . .” he said, shoving his hands into his pockets. “What do you do?” 

“I’m a judge,” Padmé said, her voice even, looking at him with a slightly-raised eyebrow. 

He had dated enough to know when a woman was giving him a test, but he wasn’t about to hold back his honest opinion. 

“Wow,” he said, looking at her with even more respect. “That’s amazing.” 

Padmé’s smile was so warm and dazzling, he felt a little dazed. “Thanks. I’m really happy in my job--the only bad thing is how much time it takes.” 

“I know what you mean. Well, not exactly,” Anakin said, feeling a flicker of self-doubt. “I mean, my job isn’t a normal nine-to-five, so . . .”

“What do you do?” she asked, sounding interested. 

“I’m a P.I.,” he said. “Ben helped me get into it after I got out of the Marines.” 

Her head tilted and then she smiled. “I thought you seemed to have a military bearing to you.” 

He wondered if that was why she had stared at him when they first met--she thought he stood like a soldier. And not because she was checking him out. 

Giving his head a shake, Anakin tried to focus. “And now you’re friends with Satine. Because believe me, if she meets you and she likes you, she will adopt you. That’s how it was with me.” 

Padmé let out a soft, beautiful laugh. “Yeah, I’m getting that. But . . . it’s nice. To have someone who knows themself and doesn’t have to spend hours deciding something.” 

“It sounds like you speak from experience,” Anakin said, grinning at her. 

Her answering grin made her look so fucking adorable, it was all he could do not to beep her nose or kiss her senseless. 

“I just might,” she said, and Anakin made himself keep the conversation going as they walked towards the Thai place. 

“I am not a thinker,” he said as he held open the door of the restaurant for her. “I just . . . do stuff. Whenever I get the idea.” 

“Oh?” she asked, stepping under his arm. “That sounds scary. But also . . . freeing.” 

Anakin shrugged and grinned as he followed her. “You should try it. Like . . . in this situation, would you spend fifteen minutes deliberating over what you’d get?” He gestured up towards the menu board.

“Not . . . not that long . . .” she said awkwardly. 

Lifting an eyebrow, Anakin smirked at her. Padmé flushed a little, but then half-heartedly shoved at his shoulder. 

“You want to be more impulsive? Just look at the board and order something,” Anakin suggested. 

Padmé craned her head back and took in the menu, her lips pursing a little. Then she sighed. “I can’t . . . partly because everything looks good, but also because . . . what if I make the wrong choice?” 

He nudged her shoulder with his own. “It’s Thai food, not a murder trial.” 

Rolling her eyes at him, she said, “Okay, then let’s put the shoe on the other foot for you. Look at the board and order for me.” 

Oh, she was . . . she was a little bit evil. Because . . . what if _he_ made the wrong choice?

Ankin took a look at the menu board, then looked back at her, seeing how she had folded her arms over her chest. Her whole air was downright smug, and he felt himself rise to the challenge. 

“Okay, it’s on. But, because I’m a nice guy: how spicy do you like your food?” 

“Thank you for asking,” Padmé said with a grin. “Mild, please.” 

With a nod, Anakin took in the board. After about a minute, he nodded and stepped up to the counter. 

“What? You’ve decided?” Padmé said, sounding a bit panicked. 

“Trust me,” he said, before smiling at the clerk. “Hi, we’d like a chicken pad thai, tom kha soup with tofu, an order of basil fried rice, pad prik king as hot as you’ll make it, and--” He paused and looked at Padmé. “Are you a vegetarian?” 

She shook her head, looking up at him as she gnawed a little on her lower lip. Anakin grinned and turned back to the clerk. “And a chicken green curry, please. That’ll be to-go, thank you.” 

The clerk nodded and put the order in, giving Anakin the total. He pulled out his wallet, then gently nudged away the outstretched twenty Padmé was offering him. “I’ve got this.” 

“All right,” she said, putting away her money and watching him. He could feel her eyes on him, which made Anakin stand up a bit straighter. With that taken care of, they both stepped away from the counter, waiting for the food to be ready. 

“You made that look so easy,” she said, gazing up at him. 

Anakin shrugged. “I know what I like, but I also like to take a chance. What’s the worst that will happen? I’ll have to eat Ben’s bland old chicken pad thai? Oh, well.” 

Padmé smiled a little, but she was still thinking things over. He could practically see the gears turning in her head. Which was incredibly attractive, honestly. He hadn’t ever dated women that were necessarily intellectual--they were smart, but Padmé was a whole different level. And as he watched her think, he wondered if she had any idea how beautiful she was. 

“So . . . are you like that with everything? Just make a decision and go?” 

“Most of the time, yeah,” Anakin said. “Because . . . I guess you could say I know, all too well, why you shouldn’t hold back. You never know when you’ll get another chance. I’m not gonna go skydiving or anything like that, but . . . life is meant to be lived. To be experienced. If you don’t do that--what’s the point?” 

He felt his cheeks flush a little as he finished speaking. Not just for opening himself up like this, giving her the opportunity to ask more about his past--some details of which would make any woman hesitate to pursue him. But also, because of the look she was giving him. There was something going on inside her head . . . 

She nodded slowly. “That makes sense. I--I really hope this works out.” 

“What--” Anakin started to ask, before Padmé reached up, clearly going up on her toes with the height difference between them, and slid a hand into his hair. He gaped at her for a moment. But when she pulled his head towards her, Ankin was more than ready to meet her lips with his own. 

And he found himself feeling very, very, _very_ grateful that Padmé was using kissing him as a way to try out being impulsive. 

End.


End file.
